Scaling AI Value: The Shift from Service Delivery to IP-Led Innovation

HCLTech CEO C. Vijayakumar outlines a strategic shift from services to IP-led AI solutions, emphasizing role redesign and a "social contract" for continuous learning.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 7, 2026, 6:17 AM EST

Source: World Economic Forum

A New Social Contract for Workplace Learning

In an AI-intensive enterprise, continuous learning has become an integral part of the job description. To support this, organizations are adopting a "skills backbone" a shared taxonomy that links learning directly to value pools like intelligent engineering or AI-enabled operations. At HCLTech, over 80% of the workforce has already undergone training in digital capabilities, with more than 116,000 employees trained specifically in generative AI. This strategy moves beyond generic training; it creates visible pathways for internal mobility where new skills are immediately deployed via talent marketplaces.

Redesigning Work for Human-AI Synergy

Modern roles are increasingly being bifurcated into tasks suitable for machine automation and those requiring uniquely human judgment. This "human-led, AI-enabled" model ensures that productivity gains are achieved through orchestration rather than simple substitution.

The framework for this redesign follows three core principles:

Automation of Routine: AI manages data-heavy extraction, routine decision support, and first-draft generation.